Six winners, six categories, one reception on Oct. 28. The University of Kentucky’s International Center named its 2026 Global Impact Award recipients on Monday, Oct. 5, honoring a trade nonprofit, an alumnus whose career centered on Latin America, and four people from the faculty and staff.
The awards began in 2020. Nominees go before the International Advisory Committee, then face a second look from campus groups such as the Staff Senate and past winners. “These awardees are making a positive difference at UK and beyond through their globally focused work,” said Tim Barnes, acting associate vice president for global engagement. “It’s an honor to recognize them and their outstanding work.”
Community partner and alumnus
World Trade Center-Kentucky took the Community Partner award. Founded in 1989, the nonprofit handles trade advisory work, export and import services and trade missions around the state. For UK, it runs the International Trade Certification program, funds scholarships for students at the Gatton College of Business and Economics and the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, and brings business and government leaders to campus through its Global Executive Forums.
The alumni award went to Michael W. Bowling, who graduated from the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering in 1990 with an electrical engineering degree. He was a first-generation college student and later earned an MBA at Vanderbilt. His career began at BellSouth, with postings in Mexico, Venezuela and Peru. When AT&T bought BellSouth in 2006, he became chief marketing officer for AT&T Business, then head of global strategy. After taking part in AT&T’s 2015 DirecTV deal, he ran DirecTV’s LATAM North business out of Bogotá and eventually its operations across Latin America. He retired from AT&T in 2022.
Back at UK as an executive in residence at Gatton, Bowling built the university’s first faculty-led education abroad initiative in Latin America. Its first cohort went to Costa Rica in 2023. He also helped start the student organization Global Leaders.
Faculty honorees
Alan Fryar, a professor of earth and environmental sciences who joined UK in 1995, won the award for international research and scholarship. A hydrogeologist, he studies groundwater and how developing countries in North Africa and Asia can manage it sustainably. He has been a Fulbright Scholar twice and a Fulbright Specialist twice, and hosted four Fulbright Scholars. As the Geological Society of America’s James B. Thompson Distinguished International Lecturer for 2024-25, he presented his work at 17 institutions in India, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan.
Mark O’Bryan, an associate professor in the College of Design, received the education abroad award. He started a faculty-directed program in 2014 and has organized eight since, taking nearly 150 students abroad, mostly to study architecture in Italy. The summer program first aimed to restore the college’s presence in Venice, then grew into a studio in Florence.
Francis Musoni, an associate professor of history, won for internationalizing the curriculum. He directed the International Studies Program from 2023 until June 2026. In 2023 he founded STEP-UP, which pairs UK undergraduate mentors with local high school English learners. Initiatives he develops with faculty and programs across the university have benefited nearly 1,500 students in Fayette County Public Schools, the university said.
Staff honoree
Josh Taylor, a lecturer in the Gatton dean’s office, took the staff award for campus internationalization. He joined UK in 2019 as an assistant director of the Graham Office of Career Management and became its senior director in 2022. The Kentucky Kernel reported that he helped develop “Business Goes Global: Paris,” UK’s first education abroad experience combining coursework with a micro-internship, and has overseen the UK Global Accelerator program.
The recipients will be honored at a reception in the Gatton Student Center on Oct. 28, 2026.
Sources
- UK International Center announces 2026 Global Impact Award winners | International Center
- UK recognizes alumni and faculty with 2026 Global Impact Awards – Kentucky Kernel
